5 Important Things to Check When Buying a New Home

Buying a new home can be a stressful time because as well as organising finance and finding the right home you also need to check a few things about the home before you decide to purchase it. As well as going through your check list you also need to do some research into home insurance and find a good removalist to move your furniture and possessions into your new home.

Building Structurally Sound

If you are buying a home, particularly an older home, you will need to check that the building itself is structurally sound. It can be a good idea to have a fully qualified builder come and go through the building for you to check that it doesn't need major work done to it, like re-stumping or that it needs all the electrics re-wired. A builder will be able to let you know whether any parts of the home needs renovation and should be able to give you an estimate of what that would cost you. Any repairs need to be factored in to the total cost of the purchase of the property.

Pests
Before you buy a property you also need to make sure that it is not infested with pests, such as termites. These sorts of pests can be extremely destructive to a building and if the house is infested it could require huge sections to be demolished and replaced or you could find the framework of the home is beyond repair.

Vacant Block Next Door

If the home you are interested in has a vacant block next door you might want to find out who owns the property for several reasons. You may need to erect a fence, which is a shared cost between you and your neighbour. Depending on where you live a vacant block could be used for all manner of things, including apartments or even more commercial structures like a car park or shopping centre. It would be a good idea to contact the council and find out who owns the land and if they can tell you if there are any building plans in place for the block. If you have the choice you might not want to live next door to a shopping centre.

Location
As well as liking the look of the house you have to be happy with the location. A home needs to be close to shops, the right school if you have children, public transport and be easily accessible to your place of work. There might be other things that you want in your neighbourhood, like easy access to cafes and restaurants, you might want to be a walk to the beach or be near plenty of park land.

Will it Suit Your Lifestyle?

The home will also need to suit your lifestyle. It will need to be big enough to house your entire family comfortably. You may be retiring and looking for a smaller home to down size to. You might entertain a lot so need large open rooms and an area for an outdoor kitchen in your back garden. Some couples are very career focused and prefer a property without a garden so they don't have to do much maintenance on their property, or a family could want a garden for their kids and pets.

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Captured inside Nusantara Flower Park (Cipanas, West Java, Indonesia)

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The Weekend in Black and White

5 Ways to Feel Safer in your Home

Feeling safe is one of the most important things for a person, though sometimes it is hard to feel totally secure even in your own home. Quite often there is actually nothing to worry about however that doesn't make you feel any safer. The following ideas will help you worry less, feel safer and relax more when you are at home.

1)Have a security system installed – Whether it is security doors, security screens, or an alarm system, having that extra line of defence between you and the outside world can make a huge difference. Not only is your place less likely to be targeted, but if it is, it will be way less chance that anyone will be able to get inside. Investing in a security system will mean you can rest easy knowing that you are safe inside your home.

2)Get to know your neighbours – There is nothing quite as secure as a community where people know each other. Make a point of getting to know your neighbours and looking out for one another. Introduce yourself, drop by with cookies or muffins, and take an interest in their lives. Some people are way more vulnerable than others so they'll feel safer too knowing that you are looking out for them. It will also be much harder for an intruder to sneak in or out of your community if people realise they don’t live there.

3)Learn self defense – Knowing how to defend yourself is an invaluable skill and even just a move or two can make all the difference. Regardless of your age, it is always handy to know what to do if you are attacked and it can be as simple as knowing a few vulnerable areas to strike out at. Taking a self defense class will give you the confidence to know what to do in an emergency and you will feel much safer both in your home and out on the street.

4)Get a dog – Dogs are great companions and are also quite territorial. Having a dog in your place will be great at both alerting you if someone is nearby as well as deterring possible intruders from targeting your place. Apart from this, just the great company provided by your dog will have you feeling less alone and way less vulnerable.

5)Choose your late night movies carefully – Whether you are actually totally safe or not, watching scary movies when you are home alone at night can make it really difficult to feel safe. Scary movies can be loads of fun, though maybe keep them for during the day or for when friends are staying over. You dont want to think every shadow in your place is hiding an intruder or a monster!

Everyone should feel safe whether in their home or not, though it's often the feeling of isolation that adds to our fears. Adding a few practical safety measures to your home will help a lot, though the real safety will come from knowing that your community is one where everyone looks out for each other. Use a bit of common sense and involve yourself in your community. Don't feel scared and isolated in your home.

Reasons Your Kit Home Needs a Veranda

Not only do verandas improve the look of kit homes it also increases their value, just as any structure added to a home makes a property more valuable. If you didn't want to put a veranda around your home patios on the side a great for providing some shade and using to shelter an entertainment area.

Shade

In our warmer climate it is hugely beneficial to have shade around your home. Homes in rural areas of Australia were traditionally built with wide verandas running all the way around the house and The Queenslander style of home, as well as being up on stilts to keep it cooler, also relies on verandas to control the temperature inside the home. A shaded area around your home gives you somewhere to sit on a warm day, you can set up your outdoor furniture on the veranda and it will shade your windows and bricks from the hot sun helping to keep your house cooler.

Play area

A veranda will give your kit home another area for your children to play. They can keep out of the hot sun during summer or shelter from the rain. Rather than being stuck indoors all the time it is good to have an area where children can get some fresh air without being attacked by the elements. Set up a table and chairs where they can play games, do drawings or play with play dough. You can buy small easels where they can stand and do paintings or build them a cubby out of blankets.

Entertainment area

Having a veranda added to your kit home will create an instant entertainment area. Build a timber decking or have a paved area where you can put your outdoor furniture and invest in a quality barbecue. Improve the look of the area by planting small trees, hedges and having creepers or plants that will grow up over your veranda or patios, such as wisteria or climbing roses. It is important to have a shaded area if you want to entertain outside otherwise you will get very hot and uncomfortable, not to mention sunburnt, sitting out in the direct sunlight.

Increase the value of your home

Adding a veranda to your kit home will also increase its value. Basically the more you add to your home the more you are going to increase its value.

Keep your home cooler

A veranda will help keep your home cool as it will stop the sun from falling across your exterior walls and from coming in through your windows. When the sun comes in through a window it can significantly increase the temperature inside the room. A house can also warm up once the outside walls become hot. Having your home insulated properly can reduce this problem.

Reduce your power bills

With a veranda keeping your home cooler for longer you will find that you need to rely on your air conditioner a lot less during summer which will in turn help reduce your power bills.

Tips for Keeping Your Kitchen Clean

It is important to keep your kitchen clean otherwise harmful bacteria can start to build up and you can risk the health of yourself and your family members. It makes it easier keeping your kitchen clean when you have good quality appliances, such as a Bosch dishwasher, plus you need to have all the right cleaning equipment, such as a good mop and cleaning products. You need to also clean out your Westinghouse fridge regularly too. It can be easy to forget what is in your fridge and as food starts to get pushed towards the back you can end up with lots of products in the fridge that are past their use by date.

The right cleaning products
It helps to have the right cleaning products. If you only have a single spray it won't do all the jobs you need to do, such as cleaning the oven, cleaning any glass surfaces or remove any stubborn stains. You should have a separate oven cleaner, a glass cleaner for your windows, something to remove oil and fat from the splash back and stove top and a spray cleaner for your bench tops. For difficult food stains it helps to have a product that has a grainy texture, so it can scratch off the stain without scratching the surface underneath. You will also need a good product for cleaning the tiles or timber floor boards.

Natural household products
You can also use things like baking soda to clean your kitchen. There are all sorts of fantastic cleaning tips, both written about in books or there is information online. For example, standing an open box of baking soda in the fridge will help get rid of odours and baking soda mixed with vinegar will cut through grease and clean all sorts of surfaces.

Cleaning equipment

You can't keep your kitchen clean properly unless you have the proper cleaning equipment. Having the right tools to do the job will make the job so much easier and you will find that you will do it rather than procrastinate about it. Buy a good mop and bucket, one that you find easy to handle, and any other cleaning tools that will make the job easy for you. Buy new sponges regularly as these can harbour germs. Have a separate one for wiping up the bench, one for wiping spills off the floor and if you have a little one in a high chair have a separate sponge to wipe this down.

Dishwasher
One way to keep your kitchen cleaner and tidier is to have a good dishwasher. Instead of having stacks of dirty dishes piling up beside the sink during the day you can rinse them quickly after use and put them straight in the dishwasher, then once it is full switch it on. Rinsing the dishes will stop your dishwasher from becoming smelly.

Clean up after dinner
So that the mess doesn't get on top of you clean up after each meal, especially after dinner. It can be too easy at the end of a long day to leave the dishes and wiping down the kitchen surfaces until the next day but the mess is always worse in the morning and it is not a good start to the day having to clear up a big mess. Food also dries and hardens on your crockery making it harder to get off.